PNG QR code generator

How to make a PNG QR code

1. Paste the link into Website address; the generator adds https:// when it is missing and warns about spaces.
2. Style it if you like with Style preset, Foreground colour, Background colour or Upload logo.
3. Choose Size: 256, 512, 1024, 2048 or 4096 px. Turn on Transparent background if the code will sit on a coloured design.
4. Wait for Verified: scans as URL, then click Download PNG. Copy image puts the same PNG on the clipboard for pasting into a document or chat.

PNG QR code details

PNG is the pixel format: the code is rendered at the Size you choose, module edges land on whole pixels, and the file is compressed without losing anything. It is the right choice for websites, email signatures, slides, chat messages and any program that cannot open vector files, which is most of them.

Choosing a size

The five presets run from 256 px, fine for a screen thumbnail, to 4096 px for large prints. A 29 × 29 code with its four-module quiet zone gets almost 28 px per module at 1024 px, so even the smallest setting gives every module several pixels. Bigger files cost only disk space; a 4096 px PNG of a plain black code is usually under 100 KB, because PNG compresses flat areas well. Logos and gradients make it larger.

Pixels, DPI and print

A PNG has no physical size of its own. DPI is metadata that the placing program applies, so the same 1024 px file prints at 8.7 cm in a 300 dpi layout and appears 36 cm wide on a 72 dpi screen. Divide pixels by the printer’s dpi to get inches, then multiply by 2.54 for centimetres. If the answer is smaller than the size guide recommends for your scanning distance, download a larger preset or switch to SVG or PDF.

Transparent, copy and JPG

Transparent background keeps the alpha channel so the code can sit on a coloured card or a photo; keep the surface behind it light. Copy image puts the PNG on your clipboard without saving a file. JPG is offered too, but it flattens transparency to white and adds compression noise around the modules. Whichever you pick, the badge above the buttons confirms that a scanner decoded the exact address from the rendered image before you download.

This code never expires

The PNG is a picture of the address itself, not a link to a service, so it scans the same in ten years as it does today. This is a static QR code: the data is written into the pattern, so scanning it needs no server, no account and no subscription. There is nothing to renew and no redirect that can be switched off, which is why a code made here keeps working for as long as the printed copy exists. The trade-off is honest: a static code cannot be edited after printing and does not count scans. If you need either, encode a link to a page you control. Read how static and dynamic codes differ, and if a code you already have has stopped working, see why QR codes expire.

Styling, formats and print size

Every code can be styled in the Style panel: six dot shapes, corner shapes, solid or gradient colours, a transparent background, a quiet zone of 0–8 modules, and your own logo up to 30 percent of the width. A contrast checker warns below 3:1 and blocks downloads below 1.5:1, and after each change the preview is decoded again so the badge tells you whether the styled code still scans.

Print size: as a rule of thumb the code should be at least one tenth of the scanning distance wide, with the quiet zone included.

Pixels become a physical size only when printed: 1024 px at 300 dpi is about 8.7 cm wide, 2048 px is 17.3 cm and 4096 px is 34.7 cm. For anything larger, or for a print shop, download the SVG or PDF instead.

The QR code size guide has a calculator for module size, DPI and distance.

Frequently asked questions